Former Patriots star David Givens turns to art after career ending injury

Former Patriots wide receiver David Givens knows the thrill of a Super Bowl touchdown, but his fingers these days are wrapped around pencils and paintbrushes.

By JODY FEINBERG

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By JODY FEINBERG

Posted Mar. 6, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 6, 2010 at 6:20 AM

By JODY FEINBERG

Posted Mar. 6, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Mar 6, 2010 at 6:20 AM

» Social News

Former Patriots wide receiver David Givens knows the thrill of a Super Bowl touchdown, but his fingers these days are wrapped around pencils and paintbrushes.

After a knee injury ended his football career two years ago, Givens, 29, threw his drive and passion into art. He will be a guest at Score! Gala, a fundraiser to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset. Two of his graphite drawings will be displayed.

While Givens has donated his work for charity auctions, this is the first time it has hung in an art gallery.

“I’m really excited to see what the possibilities are,” he said.

Both graphite drawings are portrait tributes to sports legends. One captures longtime Celtics coach and president Red Auerbach and center Bill Russell, and the other depicts football coaches Knute Rockne, Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichick.

The drawings complement the art center’s juried exhibit, “Score!,” which features sports images in painting, collage, photography, sculpture and glass. On view through March 14, the works keep alive memories of the Olympics and anticipation of opening day at Fenway Park in Boston and summer at Nantasket Beach in Hull.

Diane Kennedy, assistant director of the South Shore Art Center, invited Givens to the gala because she thinks he is inspirational.

“You can be as talented as he was and then one day it’s over,” said Kennedy, a Patriots fan. “He has a great message. Sports doesn’t always get you through life. When you have an interest in art, it’s a gift. Artistic expression can help you recuperate and move along.”

Other gala guests will be former Bruins player and general manager Mike O’Connell, who lives in Cohasset, and WBZ sportscaster Alice Cook.

Givens, who grew up in Houston and was football captain at Notre Dame, was drafted by the Patriots in 2002 and was became one of the teams top receivers. He scored a touchdown in each of New England’s Super Bowl victories in 2004 and 2005.

He signed a five-year, $24 million contract with the Tennessee Titans in 2006, lured by the financial benefits and the chance to play with the team he rooted for when it was known as the Houston Oilers.

The honeymoon ended abruptly in the first season, when he tore a knee ligament and then missed the entire 2007 season, after which the Titans let him go.

Givens sued the Titans, claiming that the team failed to inform him of a lesion on his femur and allowed him to play. He believes the knee injury would not have occurred if the lesion had been repaired, instead of fracturing. Last month, a federal judge threw out the $25 million lawsuit.

Page 2 of 2 - As Givens coped with disappointment and anger, he carved out a new life by focusing on his art and business opportunities. Although he earned his college degree in industrial design, he has no formal art training. But he found that drawing helped him through weeks of rehabilitation following four surgeries and it continues to fulfill him now.

“Art was a way of getting my mind away from the things I was feeling,” he said. “It puts me in a meditative state of mind.”

Now he is preparing to open the Euphoria Lifestyle Cafe in Beverly. It will serve smoothies, wraps and salads.

Givens also enjoys visiting students.

“I’m thinking about how I can help people to be better,” said Givens, who recently spoke about life lessons with Marshfield students.

“I showed them my Super Bowl rings and told them that it took a lot of sweat and discipline to get the rings,” he said. “I told them to use athletics as fuel for their fire, but that their focus should be on education. The more they know, the more they grow.”

INFORMATION: Sports tickets, sports items and art will be auctioned, and there will be a sports fashion show. The Score! exhibit runs through March 14. Admission is free. For more information, go to www.ssac.org.